My wife drove the 97 with the factory security. When we got it, it didn't have a remote. She called me at work and said it wouldn't start. Drove to where she was stuck and when you tried to start it, it would run for a second or 2 and die. It wasn't until I started thinking about what else was happening(headlights blinking, horn relay clicking) that I realized the security was set.

Hmm, sounds like I may have security then and something is afoul. Will security arm with the hood open? The only thing I can see that would tell the pcm/bcm that the hood is open is the mercury switch. Heck, maybe I should just get the bcm out of the donor vehicle.

no security on hood for vtss. the european models may have it cuz i saw it on the zg diagrams.

if you get the bcm out of the donor, i think the mileage will change. you could try it and see. you would probably have to swap out some components in the door as well. i think you would be breaking new ground if you try this. never seen it attempted.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

I yanked the bcm out for the heck of it, I can't think of anything else to do to this thing so I figured I needed something to do. It appears to have been messed with by a dealer. There are two stickers on it that have dealer name, vin, mileage (55098), serial number, and part number. Appears it was done in '01. I took the cover off and it looks like a big square chip was messed with or replace because all of the clear coating on everything is gone on and around it. There was also a sticker sitting in the plastic tray that sits around the obd port that says Micro Change New P/N is xxxxxxxxxx. Not sure if it fell off the bcm at some point or came from somewhere else, who's to say. Anyway, I'm still going to call the dealer to run the vin and see if they can tell me anything about what was done to the vehicle. I can't get the security to arm no matter what I do, everything seems to be working properly but it will not arm. Never had much faith in dealerships, but maybe they can/will tell me something.

I had the same thought. So they would have had to reflash the pcm to make it work I assume. So if this is the case, I will have to have a pcm out of a non security vehicle to work? I'm still thinking if I got the bcm out of the donor vehicle it would work. The two played together in the donor vehicle, should work in mine..in theory. Never pulled a oasis report on anything, but it should tell me everything that's been done to my cherokee right? Also, I had the thought of putting the pcm back in the donor, arming the security, disarming, yanking the pcm and going back in mine. But from what I'm understanding, as soon as I kill power to the pcm it's going back to being armed.

all 96-98 pcms are born the same. they have a no run feature just sitting there waiting to be activated. it's a non volatile software switch that requires reprogramming to deactivate. during initial use vehicle with security the no run request is activated. from then on the no run feature part of the bootup routing.

so a no run activated 96-98 PCM is going to look for security state on the data bus during boot up no matter what state it was in when it was removed.

FWIW the older pcms can be set in one vehicle and moved to another because they maintain the security state and use a high/low logic.

bottom line is that you would need to find a vehicle without security or get your PCM reflashed.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

It's alive! Picked up the bcm from the donor this afternoon and slapped it in. First tried the key fob lock and it worked but I didn't have any flash of the side lights, didn't think I heard the horn beep, and the led indicator did nothing..great. Tried it one more time to make sure and this time I did hear the horn, think the first time the noise of the lock actuators tricked me. Turned the key on and sure enough my mileage is about 30k more, moment of truth.. Kicked in the starter and it fire right up and kept running. Everything works just as before. Took it for a short drive, tags and inspection are out, and it did great. Got back to the house and locked it with the fob and now the led is functioning, whatever just glad it runs again. Think I'm going to put some tires on it, replace some frontend parts and get rid of the death wobble, and put some more miles on the little critter. Gets better mileage and is more manageable in town than my Powerstroke and honestly, never thought I'd say this about a Chrysler product, I think I've missed it. So there it is, I like this forum and I appreciate the help. Hopefully I can take a break from the cherokee threads for awhile anyway, might check out the older sections as I have a M38A1 I need to start getting back in to shape.

Yes I've had this exact thought and your absolutely right, there is a reason the dealership killed the security feature. I'm hoping that if I simply never let it arm I won't have to deal with it. I'm suspecting the alarm was going off randomly on the lady who owned it before me and the dealer "did their thing". I tested a couple things earlier, armed the system then opened the passenger door from inside and nothing went off. I also armed the system, let the led start blinking, then unlocked a door with the key and relocked with key. The system didn't re arm. I'll play with it and see what happens, I rarely ever lock the doors. I'm also tempted to just sell it cheap and be done, though I've found that a small SUV is awfully handy to have around.

It dawned on me that when I tried locking with the fob and opening the passenger door was before the led was blinking. I had gotten the horn beep but no led flash. Now that the led has decided to work also I thought I'd try that again, alarm works just fine! It started flashing and screaming at me just like it should. Oh well, it runs. Hopefully the Chrysler ball will be gentle on me.

Just wanted to post up an update. The little fella is back on commuter duty as of last month and has been running strong, actually picked up about 2 mpg which I certainly will not complain about. The drivers headlight lens was on the ground the other morning and the passenger side was barely hanging on, so I polished then clear coated and adhered them back to the housing. A/C took a dump so I need to address that, all in all it's doing good for a $500 beater. Funny how in its 17 yrs the paint has been fine and when I get it the clear coat starts coming off in sheets, oh well.

Quick update. Still using it to commute for work and she's still chugging along nicely. Just turned over 200k, which means it really has about 170k on it. Never did anything with the track bar bushings to try to get rid of the death wobble, I really need to address that.